White Forest Muffins at The Cake and Bake Show...

How excited was I when I was asked to present at The Cake and Bake Show in Manchester !!!!
I was hosting in the Competition Theatre for 2 days and got to meet all my favourite bakers and Bake off Stars .... Dan Lepard

Stacie Stewart...

Brendan Lynch...

And Cathryn Dresser...

Had such a great time and pinched this wonderful recipe from one of the contestants in the bake off .... Lesley Reynolds, who lives in Scotland but was actually born in the same Maternity Hospital as me, near Clitheroe in Lancashire.

This is a wonderfully simple muffin recipe and so delicious ... a bit like a bakewell tart but without the pastry.
I've also made them with gluten free flour, a mix of potato and rice, and they turn out really well.

White Forest Muffins

150g white chocolate
50g butter
250ml milk
150g self raising flour
150g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
75g caster sugar
2 x 100g bags white chocolate chips
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
black cherry jam
flaked almonds
icing sugar for dusting

Method 

Pre heat oven to 180 oC/160 oC fan oven/gas 5.
Place 13 muffin cases in muffin tins.
Place butter and half the milk in a saucepan and heat gently, DO NOT BOIL.
Add the white chocolate and stir until it melts. Allow to cool slightly.

Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
Stir in the chocolate chips and the sugar.
Stir in the ground almonds.
Mix the rest of the milk with the egg and the almond extract and pour into the dry ingredients along with the chocolate mixture.
Using a metal spoon, fold all the ingredients together gently, until a lumpy batter forms.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases so that each one is half full.
Place 1/2 teaspoon of black cherry jam in the centre of each muffin.

Fill up each muffin case with the remaining muffin mixture.
Sprinkle flaked almonds on top.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown and spongy when touched.
Place muffins on a cooling wire to cool a little and dust with icing sugar.

Here's the finished Gluten Free version...

My favourite cake in a long time !! Enjoy xx

 

 

 

Simnel Cake for Easter

Easter wouldn't be Easter without a Simnel Cake .... and as I did with my Christmas Cake, I decided to use Edd Kimber's recipe from 'Say it with Cake'

Really simple and easy to follow ...

With great results...

Soak the fruit overnight in the brandy ...

Add to the cake mix and spoon half into the lined tin...

Then add the circle of marzipan and cover with rest of cake mix and bake ...

When cool, cut out circle of marzipan to put on top..

Then roll out 11 balls of marzipan to represent the disciples minus Judas ..

Heat some jam to make it stick to cake...

Brush on top and place marzipan on, the crimp edges...

Place balls on top and either grill or use a blow torch to brown ...

Finally decorate as you wish ..

And cut in and enjoy ... Happy Easter xx

It was delicious and really moist x

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies...

Rutherford and Son is in Kingston this week and I have to keep up to date with Cake Club as raised £165 from the cast for my baking and it goes to Comic Relief.
I've never baked soft cookies before so loved the idea of the recipe I found in Jo Wheatley's recipe book.. A Passion for Baking. Jo won the second series of The Great British Bakeoff and the book is beautiful.

I love peanut butter and was intrigued by this recipe... so gave it a go and the result was fabulous... chewy and crunchy with the added peanuts and not too sweet. The only thing I changed was to half dip them in melted plain chocolate to make them a bit 'snickers' like....

Make up the cake like mix and spoon onto baking trays leaving plenty of space for spreading...

Out of the oven and cooling before choc dipping ...

And finished and left to cool and set...

Really delicious and easy ...

Went down really well and the smell when you opened the tin ...AMAZING !!!

Red Nose Cherry Bakewell Buns for Comic Relief...

Red Nose Day and Comic Relief are here again and I've taken an idea I had for Stollen Buns ( see earlier post ) last year and adapted it into these Cherry Bakewell Buns.
I don't need any encouragement to use Almonds or marzipan ( my favourite ) and I've made them 'Comic Relief friendly' by colouring the marzipan in the middle red.
I thought I'd try and raise a little money too.. so have set up a page my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/wendipeters and will tweet and blog my cake club recipes.

Makes about 15 buns..

250g soft butter
250g caster sugar
4 eggs
180g self raising flour
70g ground almonds
250g marzipan
red food colouring
150g glace cherries ( cut up )
about 15 whole cherries to decorate
300g icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180 o C and place cake cases into bun tins.

Put marzipan into a bowl and add some of the red food colouring ( a good few drops as you want a deep red )

Knead well until thoroughly combined and then wrap in clingfilm..

Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs.
add the ground almonds and flour and fold in, then add the chopped up cherries...

Split the marzipan into 16 or 17 pieces and roll into nose size balls..

Spoon a teaspoonful of the cake mix into the cases and push down then place a nose in the centre of each ...

Then cover with another spoonful of cake mix....

Bake in the oven for 13 to 15 minutes until risen, golden...

When cool, make up the icing to a dropping consistency and ice each one and place a whole cherry on top....

When you cut through there will, hopefully, be a red nose of marzipan in the bun ...

Hopefully they will go down well with the 'Rutherford and Son' Company in Stoke... Hope you have fun making them and a great Red Nose Day.... tweet me some photos @wendipeters !!

Cherry Flapjacks .....

I needed something quick and easy last weekend to throw together for Rutherford and Son, Oxford week ... looked in the cupboard and found some left over cherries from Christmas Cake recipe and some porridge oats... what else .. Flapjacks !!!
There is a wonderful cake and pudding recipe book called The Dessert Deli.. created by my friend, Laura Amos @thedessertdeli www.thedessertdeli.co.uk .. and it's her recipe I've used, adding 150g of glace cherries, cut in half.

Here it is .. the wrong way round !!

The caramel bubbling...

Added to the oats and cherries..

Put into a lined tin ....

Baked for 15 minutes and cut up when cold ..

Delicious... Thanks Laura !! x

Oh and Sara Poyzer @sarapoyz made us a beautiful Parkin !!

 

Rutherford Buns ...

Opening night of Rutherford and Son last week and I made buns as presents again...
Such a great service www.cakescrazy.co.uk .. printing edible icing for decoration.
I used the same recipe as for my White Christmas buns in a previous post but cut out a hole in the bun before icing to add a spoonful of raspberry jam.

Cut out hole and level top ....

Fill with jam ...

Ice and place disc on top...

 

Rutter on a Bun ...

Here's some shots from the play... the 2nd one's a bit scary.. be warned !!

 

And back to the buns !!

Rutherford and Son is on tour till June 1st .. catch it at a theatre near you .. www.northern-broadsides.co.uk